57

VII

Unit Seven: Cold War Conflicts and

Social Transformations, 1945 to present

58

Cold War Conflicts and Social Transformation

Uni

t Sev

en O

verv

iew

Europe rebuilt in the shadow of the Cold War. The dawn of the nuclear age add-ed to rising tensions between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union. The

Soviet Red Army, which had liberated Eastern Europe now became an occupying force. With Soviet backing, the Communists in Eastern European states pushed aside other political parties until they held unchallenged authority. They nation-alized industries and undertook massive forced collectivization of agriculture. Germany, devastated by total defeat, lay between these two sides. Even with the death of Stalin in 1953, the Soviet Union held tight control over its eastern states. The Soviets intervened to crush a revolt in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslova-kia in 1968. These actions added to the strained relations between East and West. In the meantime, Western Europe slowly recovered from the ordeal of total war. In Britain, the Labour government laid the foundation for the welfare state while the sun set on their empire. France and Italy were restored to parliamenta-ry rule and became more prosperous by the late 1950’s. The German Federal Re-public experienced its “economic miracle” in the 1950’s. In Greece, Spain and Portugal, repressive dictatorships gave way to parliamentary regimes. The end of the Soviet Union and of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 were arguably the most significant occurrences of the post war era. Soviet leader Gorbachev initialed a series of

bold economic and political reforms, hoping to maintain communism by eliminating its authoritarian nature and by encouraging greater po-litical participation and economic prosperity. When movements for reform burgeoned in the countries of the Eastern European bloc, Gor-bachev made it clear he would reverse the Brezhnev Doctrine and not intervene. With this, the fate of communism in Eastern Europe was sealed for the current time. Starting with the BeNeLux countries, economic cooperation was seen as the means for a more secure Europe. France, Germany and Ita-ly joined to expand this economic relationship. The Treaty of Rome es-tablished the European Economic Community (EEC). With France and Germany as key members, the hope was to create a

secure and peaceful Europe through economics. The Community grew until the 1993 Maastrict Treaty transformed the EEC into the European Union (EU). The EU is not longer just an economic institution, it is concerned with the daily, economic, technological and political life of its members. The European Parliament and the bureaucrats in Brussels now have a direct impact on its 27 European members.

VII

59

Clockwise: Top Left: In 1954 alone, 51% of Frenchmen bought a refrigerator. There was no more question of “doing without.” Top Right: Italian actress Sophia Loren joins the “jet set” in the late fifties. Middle Right: In May 1968, student protests broke out against college administration and the government of deGaulle. Bottom: Advertisement for campers showing holidaying in the 1960’s. Middle left: Under Pope John XXIII, the Catholic Church underwent a profound change beginning in 1962.

Class 1: The Cold War or But I thought we were friends?Purpose: Was the Cold War inevitable?Reading: The Division of Europe, McKay (6) 993-996, (7) 990-993, (8) 990-993Tasks:1. Identify the conferences held by the Allies and summarize the outcome for each.2. Did the Truman Doctrine and the Marshal Plan make Europe “safe for democracy”?Extended Assignment:Reading Tito and the Rise of Independent Communism McKay (6)1008, (7) 1003, (8) 1005Task1. What was the outcome of Tito’s move against Stalin? Class 2 & 3: The Western Renaissance, 1945-1968, or A Whole New WorldPurpose: Does money unite or divide?Reading: The Western Renaissance, McKay (6) 996-1004, (7) 993-1001, (8) 993-1002Tasks:1. How did the west organize itself politically and economically after the war?2. What was the result when Europeans turned from political to economic unity? Give a brief chronologi-cal explanation.3. What helped lead to de-colonization, the collapse of European empire?

Terms, phrases and concepts: •Christian Democrats, •Charles DeGaulle, •Fourth Republic, •Konrad Adenauer, •Bonn Government, •“welfare state”, •BeNeLux countries, •Treaty of Rome, •Common Market, •neo-colonialism Class 4 & 5: The East, or we will bury you, no, seriously, we willPurpose: If a state is built around a person, what happens when that person dies? Does the state survive?Reading: Soviet Eastern Europe, McKay (6) 1004-1009, (7) 1001-1006, (8) 1003-1007 On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, Reader XVI, pp. 543-547Tasks:1. Did Stalin’s style of leadership represent a violation of

Marxist-Leninist theory according to Khruschev?2. Identify the reasons the “bloodless palace revolution” was pursued by the “left over Stalinists.”

Terms, phrases and concepts: •Wladyslaw Gomulka, • COMECON, •Imre Nagy, •Warsaw Pact, •Alexander Dubcek, •Brezhnev Doctrine, •Prague Spring

The Mighty Divide Making East & West

Western Europe

in the 50’s and 60’s

60

Class 6: Social TransformationsPurpose: What drove change in this period?Reading: Postwar Social Transformations, McKay (6) 1009-1015, (7) 1006-1013, (8) 1007-1014 French Students and Workers Unite in Protest, Reader XVI, pp. 547-549Tasks:1. Take notes on assigned topic: •Science and Technology, •The Changing Class Structure •New Roles for Women •Youth and Counterculture2. What were French students protesting?

Class 7: The Late Cold War, 1968-1985, or is it feed or starve a cold war? Purpose: Does fear or understanding drive security?Reading: Detente or Cold War, McKay (6) 1017-1019, (7) 1015-1017, (8) 1016-1017

1956

1968

1980-81

Hungary

CzechoslovakiaPoland

West German Chancellor Willy Brandt at the

Warsaw Ghetto Memorial

The Troubled Economy; Society in a Time of Economic Uncertainty McKay (6) 1019-1022, (7) 1018-1021, (8) 1019-1022 Speech to the Conservative Party Conference, Margaret Thatcher, Reader XVI, pp. 550-554 Tasks:1. Is Willy Brandt the father of modern detente?2. How do economic difficulties change government policies in the late 1970’s & early 1980’s?

Terms, phrases and concepts: •detente, •Ostpoli-tik, •Willy Brandt, •Helsinki Confer-ence, •misery index, •OPEC, •Margaret Thatcher, •Francois Mitterand

1953

East Germany

Soviet Satellite Troubles

61The symbol of the Solidarity movement.

Class 8 & 9: The Gorbachev Era, or Gorbi! Gorbi! Gorbi!Purpose: Was the collapse of the Soviet Block inevitable?Reading: The Decline of Communism in Eastern Europe, McKay (6) 1031-1037, (7) 1028-1033, (8) 1028-1034 On Restructuring the Party’s Personnel Policy, Mikhail Gorbachev, Reader XVI, pp. 554-559 The Gorbachev Era, Reader XVI, pp. 559-560Tasks:1. What were the goals of the Solidarity movement in Poland? Did Lech Walesa’s concessions to Jaruzelski’s government in 1981 save or destroy Solidarity?2. What were the economic and political goals of Mikhail Gorbachev? Terms, phrases and concepts: •restalinization, •Solidarnosc, •Gdansk Agree-ment, •Wojciech Jaruzelski, •Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), •perestroika, •glasnost

Class 10: The Revolutions of 1989 Part I, or lapping at freedom’s wallsPurpose: Were the revolutions in Eastern Europe avoidable?Reading: Transition to Parliamentary Government in Poland and Hungary, Reader XVI, pp. 561-562 The Collapse of the Berlin Wall and East German Communism, Reader XVI, pp. 563-565Tasks:1. What role did Gorbachev play in the fall of Commu-nism in Eastern Europe?2. Which revolt was more radical, the Polish or Hungar-ian? Explain.3. Could Honecker have held back the tide of revolt? Terms, phrases and concepts: •Hungarian Democractic Forum, •Janos Kadar, •G.D.R., •D.D.R., •Erich Honecker, •C.D.U., •Helmut Kohl, •Eduard Shevardnadz

Above: Crossing the border in Berlin (11/89) Right: Dancing on the

Berlin Wall (11/89); Lower Right: The Ceaucescu’s of Romania Lower

Left: Romanian flag without the communist shield became the

symbol of freedom.

The Seventy Year ExperimentCommunism, Perestroika, and Glasnost

Class 11: The Revolutions of 1989, Part II, or they all fall down!Purpose: Were the revolution in Eastern Europe avoidable?Reading: The “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, Reader XVI, pp. 565-568 Revolutions in Bulgaria, Romania and Albania, Reader XVI, pp. 568-572 The Collapse of the Soviet Union, Reader XVI, pp. 572-575Tasks:1. Why is the Czechoslovak revolt called the “Velvet Revolution”?2. To what extent did economic distress lead to revolts in the Balkans?3. Who is more accurately called the Father of Modern Russia? Gorbachev or Yeltsin? Terms, phrases and concepts: •Civic Forum, •Public Against Violence, •Vaclav Havel, •Todor Zhivkov, •Boris Yeltsin, •Union of Democratic Forces, •Nikolai and Elena Ceaucescu

1989: Year of Revolution

62

(UL) European Community in 1957 and (Above) the European Union in 2009

Class 12: Progress of European HistoryPurpose: How has Europe progressed in the last 500 years?

Class 13: Whither Europe Now?Purpose: Is a Federal United Europe possible?Reading: Common Problems and Patterns, McKay (6) 1046-1049, (7) 1041-1044, (8) 1041-1043 Unity and Identity in Western Europe, McKay (6) 1055-1059, (7) 1050-52-1021, (8) 1048-1051Tasks:1. Who was correct in predicting the world after the

The EU

1945-1959: The beginnings of cooperationThe European Union is set up with the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between neighbors, which culminated in the Second World War. As of 1950, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) begins to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace. The six founders are Belgium, France, W. Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The 1950’s are dominated by a cold war between east and west. Protests in Hungary against the Communist regime are put down by Soviet tanks in 1956; while the following year, 1957, the Soviet Union takes the lead in the space race, when it launches the first man-made space satellite, Sputnik 1. In 1957, the Trea-ty of Rome creates the European Economic Community (EEC) or ‘Common Market’.

The Euro BanknoteOn the front of the banknotes, windows and door-ways symbolize the European spirit of openness and cooperation. To complement these designs, the reverse of each banknote features a bridge. The bridges symbolize the close cooperation and com-munication between Europe and the rest of the

world. (1) There are seven different euro banknotes: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500. They were designed by Robert Kalina of the Austrian National Bank. The designs depict windows, arch-ways and bridges from seven important architec-tural periods in Europe’s cultural history: classical antiquity, roman, Gothic, renaissance, baroque and rococo, iron and glass construction, and contem-porary 20th century architecture. (2)

(1) http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/eurocoins/banknotes.asp(2) http://www.dnb.nl/en/payments/euro-banknotes-and-coins/euro-banknotes/design/

1957

fall of communism, Francis Fukuyama or James Cro-nin? Support with current events.2. From your knowledge of current events, is the dream of Maastricht falling apart? Class 14, 15 & 16 Student PresentationsPurpose: Which Museum exhibit will you choose to exhibit at your museum?

Class 17: European History in 60 minutes. Review of Year Content

63

the fall of the Berlin WallThe Polish trade union, Solidarność, and its leader Lech Walesa, become household names across Europe and the world following the Gdansk shipyard strikes in the summer of 1980. In 1981, Greece becomes the 10th member of the Common Market and Spain and Portugal follow five years later. In 1987 the Single European Act is signed. This is a treaty which provides the basis for a vast six-year program aimed at sorting out the problems with the free-flow of trade across Common Market bor-ders and thus creates the ‘Single Market’. There is major political upheaval when, on 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall is pulled down and the border between East and West Germany is opened for the first time in 28 years, this leads to the reunification of Germany when both East and West Germany are united in October 1990.1990-1999: A Europe without frontiersWith the collapse of communism across central and eastern Europe, Europeans become closer neighbours. In 1993 the Single Market is completed with the the ‘four freedoms’ of: movement of goods, services, people and money. The 1990’s is also the decade of two treaties, the ‘Maastricht’ Treaty on European Union in 1993 and the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999. People are concerned about how to protect the environment and also how Eu-ropeans can act together when it comes to security and defense matters. In 1995, the EU gains three more new members, Austria, Finland and Sweden. A small village in Luxembourg gives its name to the ‘Schengen’ agree-ments that gradually allow people to travel without hav-ing their passports checked at the borders. Millions of young people study in other countries with EU support. Communication is made easier as more and more peo-ple start using mobile phones and the Internet.

(R) The signing ceremony of the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957. Statesmen of six European countries signed two treaties to create a European Economic Community (now the European Union) and European Atomic Energy Community. Among those represented at table is Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. (Below) EU leaders pose for a group portrait at the heardquarters of the European Council in Brussels, 14 December 2007.

1960-1969: The ‘Swinging Sixties’ – a period of economic growthThe 1960’s sees the emergence of ‘youth culture’, with groups such as The Beatles attracting huge crowds of teenage fans wherever they appear, helping to stimulate a cultural revolution and widening the generation gap. It is a good period for the economy, helped by the fact that EEC countries stop charging custom duties when they trade with each other. They also agree to joint con-trol over food production, so that everybody now has enough to eat - and soon there is even surplus agricul-tural produce. May 1968 becomes famous for student riots in Paris, and many changes in society and behavior become associated with the so-called ‘68 generation’.1970-1979: A growing Community – the first EnlargementDenmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the Eu-ropean Union on 1 January 1973, raising the number of member states to nine. The short, yet brutal, Arab-Is-raeli war of October 1973 result in an energy crisis and economic problems in Europe. The last right-wing dic-tatorships in Europe come to an end with the overthrow of the Salazar regime in Portugal in 1974 and the death of General Franco of Spain in 1975. The EEC regional policy starts to transfer huge sums to create jobs and infrastructure in poorer areas. The European Parliament increases its influence in EEC affairs and in 1979 all citi-zens can, for the first time, elect their members directly.

1980-1989: The changing face of Europe -

64

Preamble of the Proposed EU ConstitutionDRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,BELIEVING that Europe, reunited after bitter experiences, intends to continue along the path of civilisation, progress and prosperity, for the good of all its inhabitants, including the weakest and most deprived; that it wishes to remain a continent open to culture, learning

and social progress; and that it wishes to deepen the democratic and transparent nature of its public life, and to strive for peace, justice and solidarity throughout the world,CONVINCED that, while remaining proud of their own national identities and history, the peoples of Europe are determined to transcend their former divisions and, united ever more closely, to forge a common destiny,CONVINCED that, thus “United in diversity”, Europe offers them the best chance of pursuing, with due regard for the rights of each individual and in awareness of their responsibilities towards future generations and the Earth, the great venture which makes of it a special area of human hope,DETERMINED to continue the work accomplished within the framework of the Treaties establishing the Euro-pean Communities and the Treaty on European Union, by ensuring the continuity of the Community acquis,GRATEFUL to the members of the European Convention for having prepared the draft of this Constitution on behalf of the citizens and States of Europe,http://gandalf.aksis.uib.no/~brit/EU-CONST-EN-cc/PREAMBLE.html

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

8 Dec 1991

April 1991July1989

The Breakup of Yugoslavia

The Growth of the European Community and the European Union

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7972232.stm

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas_of_the_European_Union

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Breakup_of_Yugoslavia.gif